Spring Term 2018-2019 Wrap-Up

Much like the slow spring season this year, our 2018-2019 academic year limped to a close. We got'er done, but it wasn't pretty. Today, I'll share with you what we did and didn't do.

First, here are the lists of resources I had planned at the beginning of the year when things were shiny and new....

Year One
Year Eight
Year Nine
Morning Time

Next, you can find our Fall Term Wrap-Up here and our Winter Term Wrap-Up here.

Finally, here is a list of resources we used in Term 3 to end our year....

Morning Time

Bible: DK Children's Bible - we finished the Old Testament
Citizenship: Ourselves by Charlotte Mason - we finished Book I - Self Knowledge
Economics/Government: Whatever Happened to Justice? by Richard Maybury - finished
Literature: The Holy War by John Bunyan - finished
Tales: 50 Famous Stories Retold by James Baldwin - we only got about 2/3 of the way through. I'm undecided if we will pick this up again.
Poetry: When We Were Very Young by A.A. Milne - finished
Natural History: The Sea Around Us by Rachel Carson, adapted by Terry Ann White - finished
Music: Classics for Children - audio CD; Peter and the Wolf; The Sorcerer's Apprentice by Nancy Willard - finished
Art: The Story of Painting by H.W. Janson - skipped
Artist Study: Getting to Know the World's Greatest Artist: Paul Cezanne - finished

All three kids also participated in our local homeschool choir, as well as art classes outside the home this spring. Therefore, I dropped the Folk Song and Hymn study this term. In addition, they each memorized multiple poems this year for Recitation. They practiced them during our Morning Time.

Overall, I would say MT was a slog this year. I saw value in the books we read and yet, there wasn't much enjoyment. Many days were like pulling teeth. Sometimes, this is OK...and actually necessary. However, in the case of MT, if truth, beauty, and goodness are the goal, there must be some enjoyment or else it's hard to see the beauty and goodness of it. I will definitely be reassessing MT for fall.

Year 9

Bible

Riley finished the AO Year 8 Bible Reading Plan and continued to copy Psalms in Do You Journible?, which she finished at the end of Term 3.

History

A History of the American People by Paul Johnson - finished reading Parts 1 and 2 this year.

Abigail Adams: Witness to a Revolution by Natalie Bober - finished

John Adams by David McCullough - finishing over summer

Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation by Joseph Ellis - finishing over summer

George Washington's World by Genevieve Foster - finished

The Book of the Ancient Greeks by Dorothy Mills - along with A Mind in the Light study - finished

The Children's Plutarch: The Tales of the Greeks by F. J. Gould - finished

Book of Centuries - ongoing

Literature

English Literature for Boys & Girls by H. E. Marshall - finished

Invitation to the Classics by Cowan and Guiness - finished assigned excerpts

The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas - finishing over summer

A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens - finished

True Grit by Charles Portis - finished

Spelling

IEW's Phonetic Zoo Level B - finished

Math

Introductory Algebra by Margaret Lial - My Homeschool Math Class - finished

Science/Natural History

Rural Hours by Susan Fenimore Cooper - finished spring reading

Napoleon's Buttons by Penny Le Couteur and Jay Burreson - finished

For the Love of Physics by Walter Lewin - Sabbath Mood Homeschool Part 1 - finished

A Briefer History of Time by Stephen Hawking - finished

First Studies of Plant Life by George Francis Atkinson - finished

Microbe Hunters by Paul de Kruif - finished assigned reading 

Great Astronomers by Robert Stawell Ball - finished assigned reading

Galileo's Daughter by Dava Sobel - finished

Signs and Seasons by Jay Ryan - finished

You can see a full review with sample notebooking pages of Riley's science year here. 

Riley also finished up her participation in our local High School Community. I will post more about that in the future. 

Overall, Riley finished well! She has a couple books that she'll be working on completing over summer. She met both goals I set for her at the beginning of the year, which were: to participate in a High School Community and to begin formal composition. Her two favorite subjects this year were History and Literature. Some of her favorite books were The Last of the Mohicans, The Betrothed, The Tale of Two Cities, and she is also loving The Count of Monte Cristo, even though she's not quite finished yet. A few books Riley didn't care for this year were A Briefer History of Time, The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, and she is struggling to finish Founding Brothers, not because of difficult content or reading level, but rather interest level. All in all, Riley had a great year and finished strong.

Year 8

Character

Boyhood and Beyond by Bob Schultz - finished

History

Rainbow Book of American History by Earl Schenck Miers - finished

What in the World?, Vol. 3 by Dianna Waring- finishing over summer

Literature

Rifles for Watie by Harold Keith - finished

Little Britches by Ralph Moody - finished

True Grit by Charles Portis - finished

The Hobbit by J R R Tolkien - 2nd time reading - finishing over summer

Science/Natural History

The Lay of the Land by Dallas Lore Sharp - finished

Look at the Sky and Tell the Weather by Eric Sloane - Sabbath Mood Homeschool - finished

Math

RightStart Mathematics - switched mid term to MCP Mathematics and began tutoring at local Christian School - will continue over summer

Ruben had a very difficult winter and spring after his farm accident last November! He was laid up for several months, really until April, and had many doctor appointments to attend. Through it all he was a real champ and made tremendous progress in his academics. He also met each goal that I set for him at the beginning of the school year: 1) increase science; 2) focus on math; and 3) increase independent study. Ruben completed three different Sabbath Mood Homeschool science studies this year and he read most of his books independently, creating notebooking pages or giving an oral narration after each reading. We started the Fall Term very strong with math, but that is one subject that fell by the wayside after his injury. However, in April, we picked back up again with a tutor. She helped Ruben to gain some ground that he lost over the Winter Term. Math is an area we will continue to focus on in the upcoming year. Ruben LOVED his all his Literature books this year, in particular, Rifles for Watie was a favorite and seemed to leave a lasting impression. He highly recommends it!

Year 1

Phonics & Reading 

First Start Reading by Cheryl Lowe/Memoria Press - continuing

Literature

Winnie the Pooh by A. A. Milne - finished

Mr. Popper's Penguins by Richard Atwater - finished

Charlotte's Web by E. B. White - continuing over summer

Math

Rod & Staff Beginning Arithmetic 1 - continuing

History/Science & Enrichment

A Mind in the Light Natural Worlds 1 - finished parts and pieces

Memoria Press's Kindergarten and First Grade Enrichment - continuing

Levi was such a trooper this year! He started the year very excited about "school". Unfortunately, things faded after the First Term when Ruben had his accident. Being completely dependent on my teaching, his academics took a sabbatical while I tended his brother. We did pick back up in the Third Term with some sense of regularity. However, we have taken a break now in June. I do plan to begin again with him over summer to make up for lost time, but it will be light as I do want him and I to have some free time to recoup and refresh before fall. Levi did meet the goals I had set for him at the beginning of the year to start formal academics and begin reading instruction. I feel like we finally have a great phonics and reading program in place and it will be easier to carry on. 

If I focus too much on my beginning plans, I feel a little deflated that I wasn't able to carry them out. However, when I look at the big picture, I see so much positive! My children are alive and well. Each and every one of them met the academic goals I set. They all showed tremendous growth, not only academically, but physically, emotionally, and spiritually. I am so thankful the 2018-2019 academic year is behind us....and, I am looking forward to planning the new year. My biggest takeaway this year is that sometimes God's plan isn't my plan. :)

This post does contain affiliate links. 

Winter Term 2018-2019 Wrap-Up...

As the grass begins to green outside my window, I can look back at this photo from mid February and see the beauty. However, setting an all time record snow total of 54" for the month of February was not beautiful at the time. As a matter of fact, many days were just pure survival mode. More than 30 cows freshening throughout a month of subsequent blizzards was interesting to say the least. We even ended up with a couple calves in the basement for a short period of time. It was a 6-year old's delight! There were many snow forts and tunnels to be had.

But, this was absolutely not the case for anyone able to shovel.

Then, the week before the Vernal Equinox, the barn that stood for a century, fell under the weight of the rain. Coupled with existing ice and snow, it was just too much to bear. Fortunately, no one was injured and nothing of great value destroyed in the collapse.

All of the weather phenomena, along with Ruben continuing to recover from his accident, made for an interesting Winter Term. In spite of it all, we did persevere with academics and we did manage to finish some books.

First, here is a preview of the resources I had scheduled....

Year One
Year Eight
Year Nine
Morning Time

Next, you can find our Fall Term Wrap-Up here, which will give you some perspective on how we proceeded with the Winter Term.

Morning Time

For the most part, our Morning Time moved forward as planned. One change was that we did Morning Time in the evening. There is much darkness here in WI in the winter months. My people love the daylight and need daylight to do chores. There was not only the shoveling I referred to above, but checking and feeding cattle, making sure we had ample firewood, and I needed to have plenty of food ready to feed these working people. Evenings were our down time when we would gather round. It was much easier for the kids to focus on the readings and the atmosphere felt more relaxed at that time. More often than not, we headed off to bed after great reading and thoughtful discussion. It was a good way to end the day.

Regarding books used in Morning Time, I ended up swapping The Child's Story Bible by Catherine Vos for DK The Children's Illustrated Bible by Selina Hastings, which is a Veritas Press recommendation. We will pick up the Vos bible again in the fall. In addition, we finished In His Steps by Charles Sheldon. Other books listed under the Morning Time link above were continued into Spring Term.

Year 9 - RileyAnn

RileyAnn continued to move forward with her plan. She finished reading The World of Captain John Smith and picked up George Washington's World, both by Genevieve Foster. In addition, she began reading Abigail Adams: Witness to a Revolution by Natalie Bober and John Adams by David McCullough. For science in the Winter Term, Riley finished The Chemical History of the Candle by Michael Faraday with lectures and Phineas Gage: A Gruesome but True Story About Brain Science by John Fleischman. She also completed The Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper and Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen as part of her High School Community.

Year 8 - Ruben 

Ruben also made progress in his plan while recovering. The first six weeks of the Term were hard! Initially, Ruben had tremendous pain and was unable to focus. In addition, he had so many appointments that it was difficult to find time for academics. Once healing began and he could concentrate for periods of time, Ruben really took off on his reading. He managed to complete The Sign of the Beaver by Elizabeth George Speare, Seaman: The Dog Who Explored the West with Lewis & Clark by Gail Langer Karwoski, The Boy of the Alamo by Margaret Cousins, Riders of the Pony Express by Ralph Moody, and the Landmark book Gettysburg by MacKinlay Kantor during the Winter Term. Ruben and I worked together to finish Secrets of the Universe by Paul Fleisher along with the Sabbath Mood Homeschool Physics Study Guide.

One area we fell short was math. His RightStart Mathematics lessons were intermittent and we didn't make as much progress as scheduled. I will explain more about where we landed with math at the end of our Term Three Wrap-Up, once we finish our school year.

Year 1 - Levi

Oh my dear Levi! I ended up shuffling his books yet again in the second term. Due to the care and appointments needed after Ruben's accident, my time was even more limited than before. I had to find something that I could put on autopilot in order to ensure it would get done. In my Fall Term Wrap-Up post, I mentioned switching to RightStart Math and Alpha-Phonics. They are both excellent programs, but because there is no lesson plan, you just do what comes next. This made it very hard for others besides me to implement if I was gone. Therefore, somewhere around Week 22, toward the end of our Winter Term, I switched to Memoria Press's First Start Reading and I LOVE it!! I already had the Teacher Guide, which I found at a thrift sale for 25-cents so just needed the Student Workbooks. It's straight up phonics with a plan. :)

I actually went back to the Kindergarten level because I wanted Levi to start from the beginning. I also felt their reading lessons were a bit advanced, especially since we chose not to do Kindergarten at age five, but rather, waited to begin formal lessons until age six. I bought the Curriculum Guide, which is amazing and was worth the money to me. As a matter of fact, I purchased the K, 1st, and 2nd grade Curriculum Guides so I could see the progression of the program. I had been using some of Memoria Press's Art, Music, and Enrichment anyway. The Curriculum Guides also lays out a plan for teaching those subjects.

We have since changed math to Rod & Staff Beginning Arithmetic 1, which is also recommended by Memoria Press, and Levi loves it! It's funny how each kid learns so differently, even when birthed from the same womb. Ruben struggled so much with workbooks due to dyslexia, that it prompted me to find another way. This is what led me more toward Charlotte Mason's methods. However, Levi really likes workbooks and doesn't care for manipulating objects. I have always been intrigued by Rod & Staff math. I think it's because it's the way I was taught math and I feel it worked. The sequential mastery approach is very appealing to me.

For now, Levi's math comes in fits and spurts, which I am not worried about. After reading the Benezet experiment, along with other delayed formal math research, I'm OK with waiting on math until the child is developmentally ready. It's a subject that's easy for Levi at this time so we do it more for fun than academic reasons. He also plays with math in the day to day and gains much of his math knowledge that way.

After beginning the Beautiful Feet Books Early American History Primary level, it was soon apparent that Levi wasn't quite ready. I used this study with Riley and Ruben when they were 3rd and 4th grade, which I feel is a much more appropriate age, even though Beautiful Feet recommends it for Kindergarten - 3rd grade. The D'Aulaire books are amazing at any age, but I feel it's better to wait until the student can fully grasp the stories presented in them in order to better appreciate them. Also, Levi is a young 1st grader, with a summer birthday so the writing/notebooking proved to be too much. Instead, we have read many picture books together on a variety of topics, including science and history.

For now, my focus with Levi is phonics and reading. He continues to participate in Morning Time. We also finished reading Winnie the Pooh by A. A. Milne, The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams, and began Mr. Popper's Penguins by Richard Atwater in the way of chapter books this term.  Overall, the changes made have been working and academics are actually getting done!

Fall Term 2018-2019 Wrap-Up

Oh, the beauty of fall seems long ago as I look out the window and see the earth covered with snow. However, according to the calendar, it is technically still fall until the end of the week...and what a fall it has been!

We wrapped up a very busy Term One in mid November, allowing us a scheduled week off for Thanksgiving and WI deer hunting season. A week of what I hoped would be filled with much needed rest and relaxation after our crazy start to the school year. Unfortunately, it began with some unplanned appointments and ended with a near tragedy when Ruben was pinned between a wagon load of round bales and the tractor, after the brakes failed, causing the tractor to roll back on him. Thankfully, angels were watching over him that day. I have no doubt that God's strength gave The Farmer the ability to move that 8-10,000 pound tractor up hill, allowing Ruben to fall from it's grip. After numerous tests, scans, and x-rays in ER, the doctor proclaimed Ruben's life a miracle. He said any man would have been killed under that kind of pressure, but because of elasticity in growing bodies, Ruben was spared. We are ever so grateful!!

Even though there were no organs punctured or bones broken, Ruben's body was badly swollen and bruised from being squeezed so hard. He had tremendous pain and walked with a walker the first couple of weeks, requiring a great deal of care. We've been administering a variety of therapies to aid in his healing since. Ruben is making great progress and slowly recovering. Our lives are gaining some sense of regularity and there is rhythm in our days. Hence the reason I am able to come back and blog about our Fall Term.

First, here is a preview of the resources I had scheduled....

Year One
Year Eight
Year Nine
Morning Time

Next, let's break it down and see what we accomplished in real life because a plan is only good if you are able to implement it.

Big Picture

Overall, we're getting through most subjects in spite of the chaos. As usual, some subjects are more joyous than others. I've had to drop a few books this term in the essence of time and over scheduling, but for the most part, the kids are getting the work done, even though some of it is hard. I don't typically drop books due to whining. (Check out Brandy's post, Don't Drop the Book.) However, if time is truly the issue, I do drop an occasional book. This was the case this term.

Morning Time has been a greater challenge this year with my age gap. I've made a few adjustments and it seems to be going better. I also let Levi come and go, depending on the book we are reading. I think it's necessary to choose a variety of books for Morning Time. Some should be geared to the older kids and some to the younger. I usually start with easier books or books geared for the youngest child. Then I let little ones go or play quietly while I continue with books for the older kids. Of course, the younger kids learn by osmosis and if they are quiet, I encourage them to stay if at all possible.

One book I dropped from Morning Time was our Geography read, Longitude by Dava Sobel. It's an AO Year 9 book that none of us were enjoying, including mama. I had to cut something because our Day 3 reading was too long. Longitude got the ax. We are continuing everything else at this point.

Year 9 - RileyAnn

Riley's been holding her own. Because she had several heavy readings, I did drop From Dawn to Decadence by Jacques Barzun. We also haven't completed The Iliad by Homer, translated by Richmond Lattimore  and The Odyssey by Homer, translated by Richmond Lattimore using The Epics by Roman Roads Media as scheduled. We watched the first couple of lectures of The Epics. Wes Callihan is phenomenal! I just didn't have time to sit with Riley and complete the classes. Of course, she's capable of completing it independently, but I really feel strongly that it would be beneficial to do in a group or with a buddy. Therefore, we have set it aside for now. I would love to come back to it at some point!

We are behind in Introductory Logic by Canon Press Series. Again, this is my fault for lack of time to sit with her and complete the course. However, we will definitely continue this for her Logic credit in the coming weeks.

Year 8 - Ruben

Ruben's plan is fitting best of all three kids. I feel like we've finally found balance and he's hit his groove. The only subject that proved to be a bad fit was Introductory Logic by Canon Press Series. I have dropped Logic from his schedule this year as I just don't think he was ready for it. We will pick up some sort of Logic in his high school years, but I'm not sure which book at this point.

Ruben also struggled through astronomy using The Planets by Dava Sobel along with the Sabbath Mood Homeschool guide. He did finish it, but I must confess, the book was terrible IMHO. I find it hard to believe there wasn't a better resource out there for middle school astronomy. There were several readings I omitted because I didn't feel the content was appropriate or necessary for a 13-year old boy. I ended up pulling from Album of Astronomy by Tom McGowen and The New Astronomy Book by Danny R. Faulkner. Both of which proved to be excellent resources and complementary to most of the big picture of the Sabbath Mood Homeschool guide.

Year 1 - Levi

I was way too ambitious in planning Year One. We've been home educating since 2007 and this is my my third go around with 1st grade. You'd think by now I would have a better sense of time and ability. However, each child is uniquely created and there is no one size fits all. Therefore, the best laid plans sometimes don't work. Term One was a testament to that.

A Mind in the Light Year One - The Complete Guide by Lisa Kelly is a wonderful resource, particularly for a home educator who doesn't quite have her feet under her, but wants to educate classically using Charlotte Mason's methods. It is structured and laid out in an easy to follow format. Unfortunately, I just didn't have time to do all the things. Fortunately, having experience, I was able to cull and pull what worked for us. We have completed all the Literature and Poetry so far, most of the Science suggestions, and the Arts that I put in Morning Time. The most significant changes I made to the program were to History, opting to instead read the D'Aulaire books reprinted by Beautiful Feet Books and scheduled in their Early American History Primary guide. This is proving to be a better fit for Levi. 

I also switched up his math. We began with Charlotte Mason's Elementary Arithmetic 1 by Richele Baburina and Simply Charlotte Mason, but changed to RightStart Level B. I really did enjoy the Math Immersion Retreat I attended in October and Richele clearly has a heart for mathematics using Charlotte's methods. I simply didn't find time to research supplementary problems. When I did have time, my brain wasn't in a place to create math lessons. Instead, I opted to switch to a program that was scripted. I expect teacher intensity at this level so RS is not a problem in that regard. 

Lastly, we began using Alpha-Phonics by Samuel L. Blumenfeld. I love All About Reading Level 1 by Marie Rippel. However, this particular child was not loving the letter tiles. He prefers a movable alphabet and was able to progress a bit more quickly than AAR was moving. I have not ditched AAR completely, but instead have been going between it and Alpha-Phonics. This seems to be a good combination. 

The changes noted above have allowed us to have smoother days. We are now beginning our fourth week of Term Two and things are going better. By shuffling a few books around, there has even been room for Christmas picture books, but that's for another post...

2018-2019 Grade 1 Curriculum Preview

It's been a few years since I've taught 1st grade in our homeschool....seven to be exact! Truth be told, I was a little more anxious about it than beginning high school again this year. There's so much more to choose from now. It's almost overwhelming. I have pinched, pulled, and tweaked along the way, pouring over a variety of resources. It's going well so far, but we are still settling in.

Today, I'm going to share the resources we are using at this point for 1st grade. It does not include the Morning Time list, which you can see here. You can also check out our 8th grade and 9th grade plans to get an idea of the big picture happening in our home.

Bible and Character

The Child's Story Bible by Catherine Vos - See Morning Time plans
Polite Moments by Gary and Cathy Maldaner

A Mind in the Light Year One - The Complete Guide by Lisa Kelly - You will find the complete list of books used at her website. I will simply list the books I am personally using here. Some are suggested in her guide and some are books I've chosen.

History and Geography

A Child's History of the World by V. M. Hillyer - We started this book, but have since decided to hold off and will most likely be starting Beautiful Feet Book's Early American History Primary over the next couple of weeks, since it is the same time period as my older kids. I found that I don't like having everyone in a different period. For this reason, we will not be reading the other AMITL suggested history books this year, but will wait until we go back to Ancients.

Regarding the geography books listed below, I will use the ones I own or can easily find from the library. I also plan to begin using Beautiful Feet Book's Around the World With Picture Books as a substitute for our Morning Time Geography read. I will post more about that at another time.

The Nile River by Allan Fowler 

How We Learned the Earth is Round by Patricia Lauber 

The Seven Continents by Wil Mara 

Me on the Map by Joan Sweeney 

Earth by Alfred Leutscher -OR- Soil by Christin Ditchfield 

Follow the Water from Brook to Ocean by Arthur Dorros 

If You Lived Here: Houses of the World by Giles Laroche 

Geography from A to Z by Jack Knowlton

Science and Nature Study

One Small Square: Woods by Donald Silver

One Day in the Woods by Jean Craighead George 

Wild Life in Woods and Field by Arabella Buckley

Weather Words and What They Mean by Gail Gibbons 

Down Comes the Rain by Franklyn M. Branley

What Makes Day and Night by Franklyn M. Branley

Clouds by Anne Rockwell 

Feel the Wind by Arthur Dorros 

The Story of Snow: The Science of Winter's Wonder by Mark Cassinoo 

Snowflake Bentley by Jacqueline Briggs Martin 

Sunshine Makes the Sun by Franklyn M. Branley

Flash, Crash, Rumble and Roll by Franklyn M. Branley 

Sun Up, Sun Down by Gail Gibbons 

What Makes a Shadow? by Clyde Robert Bulla  

The First Book of Bugs by Margaret Williamson 

The First Book of Bees by Albert B. Tibbets

Literature and Poetry

Now We Are Six by A. A. Milne - AO Year 1
Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening by Robert Frost  - Five in a Row
When We Were Very Young by A. A. Milne - AO Year 1
The Perfect Wizard: Hans Christian Andersen by Jane and Dennis Yolen
Pioneer Girl: The Story of Laura Ingalls Wilder by William Anderson
The True Story of Peter Rabbit by Jane Johnson
Winnie the Pooh by A. A. Milne
The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams - AO Year 1
Charlotte's Web by E. B. White - AO Year 1
Andersen's Fairy Tales by H. C. Andersen
Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder- AO Year 1

Tales of Peter Rabbit and Friends by Beatrix Potter - Five in a Row
Aesop for Children by Milo Winter - AO Year 1
Tales from the Odyssey by Mary Pope Osborne Vol. 1 & Vol. 2
Mr. Popper's Penguins by Richard Atwater - AO Year 2
C. W. Anderson’s Billy and Blaze books:

     - Billy and Blaze

     - Blaze and the Forest Fire

     - Blaze and the Mountain Lion

     - Blaze and Thunderbolt 

     - Blaze Shows the Way

The Arts - Will be done in Morning Time

Classics for Children - audio CD 

Meet the Orchestra by Ann Hayes

The Carnival of the Animals by Jack Prelutsky - book + CD 

Sergei Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf illustrated by Peter Malone

The Sorcerer's Apprentice by Nancy Willard 

The Nutcracker by Susan Jeffers 

Edgar Degas (Getting to Know the World's Greatest Artists) by Mike Venezia 

Mary Cassatt (Getting to Know the World's Greatest Artists) by Mike Venezia 

Paul Cezanne (Getting to Know the World's Greatest Artists) by Mike Venezia

Phonics/Reading

All About Reading Level 1 by Marie Rippel

Explode the Code 

Penmanship

Cursive First by Elizabeth FitzGerald

Math

Charlotte Mason's Elementary Arithmetic 1 by Richele Baburina - Simply Charlotte Mason

Paper Sloyd for Primary Grades by Ednah Anne Rich

This may look like a long list for 1st grade. However, many of the readings are broken up into small parts. Some of the literature reads, I do at bedtime. This allows for short lessons, as we are still grooming the habit of attention. It doesn't feel heavy in the day to day. 

2018-2019 - Morning Time Curricula Preview....

We are three weeks into the 2018-2019 school year and have worked out a few kinks so I'm fairly confident in sharing our curricula choices at this point. This year, I'm teaching Year 9, Year 8 and Year 1. Since I have a great span in ages, I have chosen a variety of resources for our collective Morning Time. Some geared for each particular child, as well as some that are great for everyone, age 1 to 101.

I currently schedule school four days per week and have for the past several years. This does not mean learning is not happening on the other three days. It's just that I formally schedule our "bookish studies" in those four days. Sometimes it takes 6-7 days to complete what is scheduled, which is fine, as long as we start fresh on Monday morning with the new week's work. I don't schedule my kid's every day because over the years, I have found some of the best learning happens when they have free time to pursue their hobbies and interests. Our Morning Time follows this same four day schedule.

This year, I chose to read aloud The Child's Story Bible by Catherine Vos in our Morning Time. This is a re-read for my older kids, but the first time around for my Year 1 student. It's such a beautiful children's bible. I think it's appropriate for all ages. I will read the Old Testament section this year and New Testament next year. My Year 9 student is also doing a separate bible study independently, but reviewing the timeless narratives in the Vos children's bible is good.

Along with our bible readings, I have chosen two devotional type readings. First we will finish In His Steps by Charles Sheldon, which we started last year. Then we will move into Mere Christianity by C. S. Lewis. These books were chosen with my older students in mind. Although, I have never read Lewis and am personally looking very forward to it.

Other resources we will use this year in our Morning Time, along with sources, are as follows:

Citizenship: Ourselves by Charlotte Mason - We started this book last year and will continue this year.
Economics/Government: Whatever Happened to Justice? by Richard Maybury - AO Year 8

Geography: Longitude by Dava Sobel - AO Year 9

Literature: The Holy War by John Bunyan - AO Year 8
Tales: 50 Famous Stories Retold by James Baldwin - AO Year 1
Poetry: Now We Are Six by A. A. Milne, Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening by Robert Frost, When We Were Very Young by A. A. Milne - A Mind in the Light Year 1
Natural History: The Sea Around Us by Rachel Carson, adapted by Anne Terry White - AO Year 6

Music Study: Classics for Children - audio CD, Meet the Orchestra by Ann Hayes, The Carnival of Animals, Peter and the Wolf, The Sorcerer's Apprentice by Nancy Willard, and The Nutcracker - A Mind in the Light Year 1
Folksong: She'll Be Comin' Round the Mountain, America the Beautiful, Frere Jacques/Brother John - Term 1 - We will spend four weeks on each song. I will pick Terms 2 & 3 at a later time.

Hymn: Great is Thy Faithfulness and Come, Thou Fount - Term 1 - We will spend six weeks on each hymn. I will pick Terms 2 & 3 at a later time.

Art: The Story of Painting by H. W. Janson - AO - will continue from last year

Artist Study: Degas, Cassatt, Cezanne - A Mind in the Light Year 1

Recitations: Misc. passages for each student and review The Pledge of Allegiance

We don't do all of these subjects every day, but rather, 1-3 times per week, depending on the subject. So our daily schedule looks like this....

Day 1 – Bible, Poetry, Recitations, Citizenship, Natural History

Day 2 – Bible, Folk Song & Hymn, Artist/Music Study, Economics/Government

Day 3 – Bible, Recitations, Geography/Art, Literature

Day 4 – Devotional, Folk Song & Hymn, Tales 

As you can see, I tried to have a bible/devotional reading daily. From there, I attempted to stagger subjects according to difficulty. I wanted some form of daily student interaction, whether through singing or reciting, as well as me reading aloud. I also tried to break up subjects geared for Years 8 and 9 vs. Year 1, altering between light and heavy readings. In addition, I do ask for narration once per day from each child in Morning Time. My Year 1 student narrates the Vos story bible or the tales as these are resources I primarily chose for him. The older kids take turns narrating from the citizenship, natural history, econ/gov, literature, and devotional readings. So far, this has been working well. Our total Morning Time typically takes somewhere around 45 minutes, give or take. 

Curriculum 2011-2012

(Part 3)

If you've been following this series, you may have noticed that I've stuck to core subjects.  We also do things like music, choir, composer study, art, picture study, poetry, copywork, narration, physical education, home economics, etc.  These elective subjects are less structured and I don't typically use a specific curriculum for them unless noted.

Angel Grade 10

My Father's World - World History and Literature - This year Angel will be covering the entire New Testament, which is why this curriculum appealed to me.  It's a continuation from 9th grade.  It's written to the student, which allows for independent study.  The curriculum covers Bible, History, and English.  However, I felt the literature was weak in the English so we're supplementing with Beautiful Feet literature.  From what I understand, MFW did this intentionally because the focus of the first 10 weeks is writing a research paper.   Our history focus this year will be Ancient Rome and the Middle Ages.

Queen Language Lessons for the Secondary Child 2




Apologia Biology

Math-U-See Algebra


RileyAnn Grade 2

Riley and Ruben will also be studying the New Testament with the history focus being on Ancient Rome and the Middle Ages. Again, I like having all three kiddos in the same time period.

Lessons from History - 100 BC to AD 1300's - See former post (part 2) for further explanation

The Child's Story Bible by Catherine Vos - New Testament - I am reading this aloud to entire family after breakfast.  All four kids narrate from this book.

History Pockets - Ancient Civilizations - RileyAnn will complete the last three pockets in the book, again to coincide with history time period.

The Story of the Middle Ages by H.A. Guerber/Christine Miller - This is a read aloud for Riley and Ruben. We have several other history read alouds scheduled for this time period as well.

Galloping the Globe - Riley and Ruben will spend two years studying various countries on all seven continents.  We'll spend approx. 2 weeks on each country learning about the culture of the people, the animals living there, geographic features, and missionaries.  This unit study is geared for K-4.  It includes ideas for geography, Bible, history, science, literature, vocabulary, maps and flags, reproducibles, recipes, puzzles, games, and crafts. I'm incorporating some Five in a Row books into the literature.  We'll end the study of each country by cooking a meal from that part of the world.

Math-U-See Beta

Outdoor Secrets - This is an early elementary science program from Simply Charlotte Mason.  Riley and Ruben are completing this study together.



Pictures in Cursive by Queen Homeschool

All About Spelling Level 1

Language Lessons for the Very Young by Queen Homeschool

Rod & Staff Busy Times, More Busy Times, and Sonlight 2 readers - RileyAnn will be working her way through several books this year for reading.

Sonlight 2 literature as read alouds to Riley and Ruben

A Child's Garden of Verses by Robert Louis Stevenson - I will be reading aloud 2 poems per week to Riley and Ruben

Home Economics for Homeschoolers from Pearables Level 1 - This book is so cute for little girls!  It's a once a week curriculum that's very easy to follow to help train our dd to some day be wives and mothers.  The focus is on beginning cooking, baking, cleaning, sewing, organizing, and hospitality.


Ruben Grade 1

As mentioned, Ruben and Riley are doing many of the above subjects together.  Ruben is exclusively working on the following:

Getty Dubay Italic book A

Explode the Code workbooks

Math Lessons for a Living Education - This is a new program by Angela O'dell.  It's written in a Charlotte Mason style.  You can find it through Queen Homeschool.




Well, there you have it.  Five years of education in a nutshell.  We pray that it's all for the glory of God.  Please feel free to post comments or questions.

Curriculum 2009-2010 and 2010-2011

(Part 2)

Our third and fourth years of homeschooling I started to branch out and experiment.  We were getting bogged down by textbooks.  I started to realize we didn't need to recreate school at home.  If something wasn't working, we tried something else.  Language Arts was a good example.  We read a ton of great literature and tried several boxed curricula and workbooks before I came to realize how much they retained from the literature and how little they got from fill in the blank and rote comprehension questions.  We experimented more with narration and we're on our way to becoming a more Charlotte Mason friendly homeschool.



2009-2010


Angel Grade 8

Sonlight Core 100 - U.S. History in Depth

A Beka Matter & Motion

Total Health: A Health Curriculum for Middle School

A Beka Pre-Algebra

1/2 Easy Grammar 8


1/2 Rod & Staff English


Wordly Wise


Apples Daily Spelling


English from the Roots Up


RileyAnn Kindergarten

Sonlight Kindergarten - World Cultures

A Beka My America and My World - Read aloud

Egermeier Story Bible

We did unit studies for science on creation, air, water, weather, yeast & bacteria, owls, astronomy, cells, Usborne First Book of Nature, and the human body.  We read tons of books, did experiments, created lapbooks, went on field trips, and created a full size human body using My Body by Patricia Carratello.  The kids had fun!

A Beka Arithmetic 1

MCP Phonics Level A


1/2 Spelling Workout Level A


1/2 Wordly Wise K

2010-2011

Angel Grade 9

Oh my...I can't believe we reached high school!  Some say it can't be done, but I say it can!  It was very exciting to see the shift in thinking in writing and math, which had formerly been struggles.

My Father's World Ancient History and Literature - This program covers the entire Old Testament and has great literature.  The student also learns how to write an argumentative paper.  The lessons are geared to the student, which promotes independence and allowed me the freedom to work with our younger kids.  Great program!

Apologia Physical Science - Yup, we're back to Apologia.  I think this is one of the best science curricula for high school.  I'm not as sold on the Young Explorer Series, but it's great for a higher level.  Again, it's written to the student, which is great for independent study.

Math-U-See Pre-Algebra - OK, so we attempted Saxon Algebra much to our dd chagrin as well as Teaching Textbooks Algebra.  Needless to say, neither worked for our family. We were blessed to have a dear friend that was able to borrow us Math-U-See and it was a hit.  We did back up and redo the pre-algebra just to be sure she covered and understood the Math-U-See philosophy and teaching style.

Wordly Wise


Language Arts for the Secondary Child by Queen Homeschool - Our girls LOVE the picture study, copywork, and gentle approach to language arts that this program provides. You certainly do not need to supplement the MFW Ancient History & Lit, but I had this book on the shelf and dd wanted to try it.

Rod & Staff Typing for Christian Service


RileyAnn Grade 1

I combined Riley and Ruben for some subjects and really only used parts of curriculum to create our own thing.  I wanted to study the Old Testament and start with ancients for history.  We're going to do a 4 year rotation to stay on track with Angel.  I think it's easier to have everyone studying the same subjects/time periods at their own levels.

Lessons from History - Creation to 100 BC - I LOVE this series!  It's a very flexible unit study that gives you a chronological list of people and events in history. There are 5 books in the series covering creation through the 1900's.  They are quite inexpensive and provide a wealth of information and resources for studying history, along with geography, Bible, science, writing, communication, and art.  You pick and choose which activities you want to do and which books you want to read.

The Child's Story Bible by Catherine Vos - Old Testament only

History Pockets - Ancient Civilizations - She completed the first 4 pockets to coincide with the time history period we studied.

Charlotte Mason's Elementary Geography - Read aloud to Riley and Ruben

Simply Charlotte Mason Genesis through Deuteronomy & Ancient Egypt - Used bits and pieces

Stories of Great Americans for Little Americans - Read aloud to Riley and Ruben


My Father's World 1st grade - I really only used the Bible and phonics

First Language Lessons - First half of the book for 1st grade

1/2 Spelling Workout Level A - Finished from last year

Sonlight 1 - We read Sonlight books for literature this year

Science - again this was a conglomeration of things including parts of NOEO Physics 1, parts of Janice VanCleave's Science Around the Year, Thornton Burgess animal books, and MFW from A-Z


Math-U-See Alpha


Ruben Kindergarten

My Father's World from A-Z

1/2 Math-U-See Primer

MEP Reception Year

Ruben also participated with Riley for Bible, history, geography, and science


To be continued....